Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) allow devices to calculate their geospatial position based upon signals sent from GNSS satellites. Example GNSS' include the Global Positioning System (GPS), Globalnaya Navigatsionnaya Sputnikovaya Sistema (GLONASS), and Galileo. While the accuracy of a position calculated from a typical GNSS system is adequate for some tasks, greater accuracy is required for things like precision navigation applications such as machine guidance systems. Various techniques have been developed which utilize correction information to assist GNSS receiver devices to increase the accuracy of their positional calculations. One such example is Real Time Kinematics (RTK). In RTK systems, a device whose position is to be accurately determined (often called a “rover”), will utilize GNSS correction information sent from a nearby GNSS correction generation device (e.g., an RTK correction generation device—sometimes called an RTK “base station” or an RTK “reference station”) to correct the geospatial location calculated from the GNSS system.
In some cases, the GNSS correction generation device is an on-site, or nearby device which wirelessly transmits the GNSS correction information directly to the rover. These on-site GNSS correction generation devices are typically expensive and must be setup prior to use. Furthermore, a rover must stay within range of the wireless transmission which makes it unsuitable for precision navigation over longer distances.
In order to make GNSS correction information more accessible and easier to use, various entities have setup numerous disparate networks of GNSS correction generation devices. These networks feature numerous GNSS correction generation devices that transmit their corrections to a central server (generally over the Internet). The central server then provides the GNSS correction information over the Internet to anyone subscribed. Rovers may then contact the central server over the Internet to receive the GNSS correction information. Typically a rover utilizes a cellular network to connect to the central server over the Internet. This solution is not always reliable and may suffer from latency issues as the GNSS correction information has to flow from the correction generation unit, across the Internet to the correction server, then back over the Internet to the cell phone provider's network, through the cell phone provider's gateway router, through the radio access network, and finally to the rover. If any one of these components fail or delays too long in sending the information the GNSS correction information may be lost, unusable, or less reliable. Additionally, if the rover unit hands over from one cell of the cellular network to another, there may be significant delays in the delivery of the GNSS correction information as the dedicated resources reserved for the rover that are used to deliver the GNSS correction information must hand over to another cell. This typically takes time to complete the handover (which may delay GNSS correction information) and increases the chances of a failure.